Liar, liar
by LaylaG12
Summary: When four best friends start their 7th year at Hogwarts, they prepare for exams, some parties, and maybe a little drama to keep things interesting. But these girls aren't your average seventh years, so when a mysterious X threatens to expose their dirty little secrets, they get a whole lot more than they bargained for. Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret-Jean De La Fontaine
1. Interlude

**Don't own anything except OC's...**

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><p><strong>Liar, liar.<strong>

_"__Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies."  
>― Dorothy Allison, <em>_Bastard Out of Carolina _

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><p>Imagine you're going into your seventh year at Hogwarts Witch Craft and Wizardry. You're worrying about N.E.W.T.S., about the work load, how next year you would be leaving school and going into the real world. Not to mention the gossip and the secrets and those bitchy girls that never seem satisfied unless they have someone to bully. You're older siblings and older friends had whined and groaned about how hard the dreaded seventh year is, and you never really thought you'd be doing it yourself until you suddenly get your seventh year letter for school.<p>

Suddenly, you're freaking out. You're growing up and not quite ready, and, bloody hell, surely O.W.L.S weren't _two years _ago?

Now, on top of all that, you have a secret.

Not the type of secret that most people had, like 'I don't like Quidditch but pretend to love it to fit in'. It was the type of secret that gnawed away at your insides, the type that gave you numerous sleepless nights and overtook every thought and feeling of your life.

It was the type of secrets four girls had.

These girls weren't exactly the most invisible group around, though you could go a few days without seeing them if you really wanted to. You usually see them in the Great Hall while eating your dinner, and you glance at them in wonderment for a moment. Melody Valentine is in her own little world with feathers in her hair and aluminous, rainbow coloured nail varnish glittering in the light, Harley Graves was always playing some sort of musical instrument whether it be a guitar or a weird looking gold thing that you reckoned looked like a weapon from the Ministry, Veronica Applestone is far too obsessed with Quidditch and you question, for the millionth time, if she is mentally healthy or not, and Dominique Weasley is a _Weasley _and therefore stands out like a sore thumb with her gingery hair and smatter of freckles. They're surrounded by James Potter, Fred Weasley, Logan Applestone and Russell Peakes, and a pang of jealous shots through you because _damn_, those boys are fit.

So, sure, they catch your eye sometimes.

But as you stare at them, you realise that, actually, they're quite…boring. They're laughing and joking, doing homework, maybe creating a new prank to pull on some poor bugger in the Hogwarts population, but they're not doing anything extraordinary. So you turn away, because if you wanted to know the gossip, they weren't going to be the ones to tell you, anyway.

These girls, however, have fooled you. Don't feel too bad, you're not the only one. They managed to fool everyone, even each other. Because these girls, they held secrets, they'd told lies, and they'd done things that were close to being the horror stories your siblings and cousins told you at before bed when you were little.

But someone knew. Someone had found out what these girls had done and figured it was about time other people got to know, as well. Their lives were about to come crashing down around them and people were going to enjoy it.

Their past was coming back to haunt them…not that the girls knew this yet.

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><p><strong>So...yeah, I've started a new Harry Potter story.<strong>

**It's inspired by some of my favourite TV shows including Pretty Little Liars, Desperate Housewives, and Gossip Girl. I don't own anything of those, either...sadly...**

**I hope you guys enjoy it! First real chapter is already posted so read on!...if you want to :)**

**-Laylax**


	2. Dominique Weasley

**Don't own anything.**

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><p><em>Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret-Jean De La Fontaine<em>

****Chapter 1: Dominique Weasley****

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><p><strong><em>Dominique Molly "Dom" Weasley.<em>**

Dom was the first one of her friends down for breakfast on the first morning of school. She usually was, it wasn't that she woke up early (around seven thirty), it was just that her friends weren't early risers and it was very rare they got down for breakfast before eight. Dom liked to be there when the food was fresh and steaming, and to take advantage of the fact that her friends were not there yet to steal all of the food and she could have her pick of the bunch. She piled her plate with various items and took the _Hogwarts Post_, a student run 'paper' about all the events and gossip going on in the castle, from the middle of the table. She straightened, stretched her back and enjoyed the silence of her morning because she knew that it was likely not to last very long.

As Dom thought this, two people plonked down onto the benches. She opened her mouth to greet the twins but quickly shut it when she realised they were arguing.

"Saturday isn't too soon," Drew snapped. "I'd hold them tonight if I could, but Fred said that was unethical."

"You could at least give us a couple of weeks off," Logan replied with a huff. "The term's just started."

"Losers hold try-outs weeks into the term. Winners, on the other hand, start as early as possible."

Logan blinked. "You're a crazy bint, you know that?"

"Now, now, let's not get personal," Dom grinned.

Drew sent her a glare and then her green eyes suddenly lit up. "James!" she called as Dom's cousin walked into the Great Hall with Melody. He looked up at his name and stopped playing with the bright red feather in Melody's hair. "Do you think Saturday is too soon to hold Quidditch try outs?"

"No," he answered immediately. Drew whacked the table and smiled cockily at her brother, who scoffed. "But don't be all Quidditch-Nazi on us, Applestone. I can't handle your military style work outs."

Drew rolled her eyes. "They're not that bad."

"I had to _carry_ James to the prefect's bath about twenty times last year," Melody said, grabbing a handful of fruit for her bowl. "Do you know how heavy he is?"

James frowned. "Are you calling me fat?"

"I'm calling you muscley."

"That's a nicer way of calling someone fat."

"No it's not."

"I'm _not _fat."

Melody sighed. "Be quiet, Jamie. I'm not undressing you again, either."

James chuckled. "That was more for personal satisfaction than the fact that my muscles were hurting."

Melody rose her right eyebrows amusedly.

"Guys," Fred hollered, running into the Great Hall with Russell and Harley at his heels. Dom shook her head, there was far too much noise for a Monday morning. "Do you realise this is our last year at Hogwarts?"

"Um, yeah," Dom said slowly. "We're in seventh year, hence the last year of schooling."

"What's the big deal?" Drew asked.

"We need to make it memorable!" Russell continued, Fred nodding enthusiastically. "We can't let this year pass by us!"

"Oh dear God," muttered Melody.

"Memorable how?" James asked interestedly.

"Winning the Quidditch cup!" Drew shouted.

"Crazy woman," mumbled Logan.

"We could throw more parties," James offered as Drew started to beat Logan with the _Daily Prophet_.

"Yes!" Fred cried excitedly. "James gets it! Come on guys, more ideas! Brainstorm!" he cried, clicking his fingers quickly around his head and making a strange humming sound.

"Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," Harley beamed. "I could provide the rock 'n' roll."

Logan grinned. "And the sex, if you're lucky."

"Aw, sweetie," Harley cooed. "You couldn't handle me in the bedroom."

"On that note," Dom called. "Let's get to class."

"What? We've got ages—"

"Class, _now_."

Russell nodded, grabbed Fred's collar and ran off out the doors. The others followed, Melody stuffing berries into her mouth as James pulled her away from the table. They went off to their DADA class, which they had together on a Monday morning with the Ravenclaw's. and Dom sat idly in her chair as Morris stood at the front of the class talking about the seventh year syllabus. She stared at the stones walls and the ornate windows, the rickety tables and chairs, and the way Morris grinned like a lunatic as he bragged about how one of his past students had just made their own jinx up.

What Fred said had gotten to her, more than she cared to admit. He was right, after all. Next year they would no longer have the safety net of Hogwarts catching them, they would no longer have routine and time-tables, they would no longer be taught things to learn and study. They would be out in the real world doing real jobs for real people, and that freaked her out. She glanced around the classroom, realising that most of the students in there she would never see again after June. She wondered if she and her friends would stay as close as they were. Would Harley still be singing at the most inappropriate times, would Drew still be talking about Quidditch excessively though no one really cared, would Melody still be smiling too much and laughing too loudly?

They would, one part of her said. They would stay best friends for life because they loved and cared about each other. They were a second family, a unit that could not be broken.

She liked to think it was because of this and _only _this. However, she knew that, really, they would stay best friends because of the night they shared…they relied on each other to keep it a secret.

Flinching back into her seat, Dom tried to push the thoughts from her head.

She hated remembering it, but she couldn't help herself.

It was so hard to forget.

When the lesson finally ended, Dom headed out the classroom and towards Care of Magical Creatures.

"I can't believe you dropped Muggle Studies," Drew muttered, appearing at her side. "I only took it for you."

"You only took it because it was easy. More time to spend doing Quidditch and all that, and you still have Harley."

"Still, it's not as fun with just the two of us."

"I thought I could do something more productive," Dom whispered.

It wasn't a total lie. She never wanted to take Muggle Studies in the first place, but took it for _him_. He loved it and Dom thought that if she took it he would be over the moon. But when everything with him exploded and ended, she had switched over to Care of Magical Creatures to get away from him, leaving Drew and Harley in the class that they had taken with her. Dom would feel guilty, however, Drew and Harley's annoyance was better to deal with than being around him.

Drew waved goodbye and headed down the opposite corridor with Harley. Melody skipped over to Dom and linked arms whilst talking about a resent dress she had made from her mum's old curtains.

Dom let her troubles disappear, it was in the past, and all that mattered was that she was okay now.

At least, that's what she told herself.

The first day of Seventh Year was like all the others. Teachers explained what they would be doing this year and stressed how hard they were going to work, most people didn't listen as they were too busy catching up on each other's lives, and then the lesson would finish and every one would rush to leave to either get food or go back to the common room.

At the end of the school day, Dom collapsed onto the couch in the Gryffindor common room. For a short moment, it felt like she was at home again. Sat on her couch in the living room, her family surrounding her as they joined together to watch the wiz-telly or play a game.

Then her cousin sat on her, and Dom was knocked out of her comfortable little daze.

"Ow." Dom snapped. "Fred, get off me."

"You're boring."

"And you're annoying. Get off me."

Fred jumped to the seat beside her and grinned. "What's up your arse?"

"Lovely visual," Drew commented from near the fire.

Dom looked around the couch area and noticed that her friends had returned from their lessons. She smiled lightly to herself. Though so much had changed in the past seven years, the places where the group sat in the common room did not. Drew sat on the chair closest to the fire, while Logan sat on the leg rest in front of her, James and Melody shared the loveseat near the window, Harley sat on the seat to the right of them, and Dom, Fred and Russell squeezed onto the couch facing the fire. It was exactly the same places they had sat since their first week of Hogwarts. Whenever they could, they claimed the area, and since fifth year not many people dared to try and take them, though the spots were harder to get when they were tiny teenagers with the voices of chipmunks. Dom liked to think that as the world altered around her, she and her friend's spaces in the Gryffindor common room was a constant—the safety zone.

For the rest of the evening, it was like they'd never left Hogwarts. They talked lessons, teachers, gossip and people, shared stories from their summer, and said who they had their eye on for the next Hogsmeade trip. If she didn't have the certainty of the new first years and the missing seventh years, Dom would have thought the summer holidays had been a dream.

"Merlin, I'm so tired," Melody yawned later that night. "I think I'm gunna go to bed."

Dom stood. "Me too."

Melody blew a kiss to the group and Dom waved as they ran up the stairs. Dom walked over to her bed and grabbed some pyjamas from the draws. As she unbuttoned her top, there was a tap at the window. There was a strange black owl perched on the window ledge, his bright yellow eyes wide and curious. Dom opened the window to let the owl in, wondering if one of her family members got a new owl, though she couldn't remember any of them mentioning it. She picked the letter from his claws and looked at the envelope. It was small and yellow with _Dominique _inscribed on the front in curvature writing.

No one in her family wrote like that, except maybe Rose. But why would she send a letter? Surely she would have sought Dom out in school.

Confused, Dom carefully opened the envelope and picked out the folded paper. She opened the paper up, her eyes zoning in on the small sentence in the middle of the otherwise blank white page.

_Dominique,_

_How was therapy? _

_Did you tell them about your little trip down the stairs?_

_-X_

Dom blinked down at the paper. Was this for real?

She looked up frantically, searching the room to see if anyone was watching her. No one was there, not even Melody who had went into the bathroom.

She hadn't told _anyone_. Not even her friends or family. Who could possibly have any idea?

Dom gulped.

_Fuck_.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

**-Layla**


	3. Andrea Applestone

**Don't own anything except OC's.**

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><p>"Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies."<br>― Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina

**Chapter 2: Andrea Applestone**

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><p><em><strong>Andrea Elizabeth "Drew" Applestone.<strong>_

In complete honesty, Drew had no idea where her broom was. She pretended that it didn't bother her and that she would find it eventually, but she could feel her stomach churning. Hogwarts was a massive place, there were plenty of places to hide a broom. Not just any broom, a Nimbus 3000, her pride and glory in life.

Damn her friends and brother.

They'd hidden it from her, saying something about her being 'too obsessed'. It had been Logan's idea (she knew by his smile) and her friends had gone along with it willingly, much to her dismay. She'd cursed them over a million times in her head and glared at them viciously as they sat in Charms. They refused to look at her.

Wimps.

She hated them all.

At least, she did right now.

She decided to voice this.

"I hate you all," she leaned forward to hiss at them as Flitwick ordered the class to do a practical. "And I won't hesitate to murder you."

Russell was the only one to flinch.

"It's not damaged, just hidden," Logan replied.

"I don't care. If you don't give me it back, I'm going to kill you…and I'll enjoy it."

He blinked. "Then you'll never know where your broom is."

Stupid logic.

Realising the nice approach wasn't working, she grabbed his collar. "Logan, I swear to Merlin, that broom is the only thing I love in the world, if it's got _one _scratch on the wood—"

"It's safe, promise," Russell piped up. "Please don't kill me. I'm too young to die."

The rest of the guys sent him a glare, peeved that he had broken the 'be strong' pact they had made only moments ago.

"Calm down, Drew," James cooed. "Betty will be back in your possession in a few days. We just don't want you holding Quidditch try-outs two days after we come back."

Drew's fingers slipped from her brother's shirt. "I'm holding them on Saturday, you fuck-tits. You didn't have to steal her."

"You said that last year," Logan sighed. "And we were naïve enough to believe you."

"Until you burst into our dorm at five o'clock in the morning with a bullhorn," Fred said. "I nearly shit myself."

Drew rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair as she felt heat forming in her cheeks. She could remember that night—or should she say morning. Before she had went to bed she'd had an argument with Logan about something (she couldn't quite remember what now) and decided to get payback. This involved storming into the boy's dorm, yelling out their names through a bullhorn and setting off fireworks. It had all gone wonderfully until Fred had jumped out of bed in shock, his face a mixture of horror, confusion and fright.

Not to mention he'd been naked.

She'd seen _everything_. His chest, his butt, his—uh-uh—_thing_. At the time, she'd been in a relationship, but after seeing Fred naked she was never able to really think about him or anyone else the same. He was no longer her goofy best friend, he was _hot_, funny and loved Quidditch. He was basically the perfect guy, and she couldn't believe that it had taken her so long to realise. Her relationship had fizzled and Drew was left staring after her best friend while he remained completely oblivious to the fact that she was even a girl.

It was tragic, really.

With the thoughts of a nude Fred in her mind, Drew was unable to think of a good reply, so she settled for whimpering, "Oh, Betty. What have they done to you?"

Beside her, Melody giggled.

DADA ended and Drew stormed out of the classroom, dragging Melody with her, and plonked onto the bench in the Great Hall. She stabbed the food on her plate as her friends sat down around her, the girls looking cautious and the guys looking rather proud of themselves. Dom sat opposite her, looking pale and dark-eyed. She looked like she'd had no sleep at all and maybe even cried. Drew opened her mouth to ask about it, she was never one for tact, until James interrupted.

"You're as bad as Brown," he said, shaking his head. "No wonder you're like this, having him as a Captain for three years," he peered at her cheekily. "And a boyfriend for nine months."

Drew stayed silent. The mention of her ex(and only)-boyfriend brought up a few emotions; frustration, guilt, vulnerability. Most people would have been honoured to be compared the Samuel Brown, one of the best known captains of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and also Chaser for the Wasps, but Drew wasn't. Not anymore, anyway. He used to be one of her hero's and she'd been_so _happy when he'd kissed her after a Quidditch practice one day back in her fifth year…but now? Well, it was totally different.

She stuffed her mouth with sausages so her friends didn't suspect anything of her silence.

"Attractive," Logan sniggered.

Drew glowered at him.

"When will I get Betty back?" Drew questioned sternly after swallowing.

"Friday," replied Fred. "Night."

"Ready for Saturday morning," James added.

"Fine." Drew grinned widely, satisfied when the guys sent her worried looks. "Quidditch try-outs start at six…AM."

There was a collective groan.

"Six in the _morning_?" Albus Potter cried, scandalised. "Bloody hell, that's barbaric," he turned to his brother. "What did you do?"

James pulled a fake horrified look. "Me? Why assume I did anything?"

"Because it's always you," Rose answered without hesitation.

"I resent that. Melody, tell them it's not always me!"

Melody smiled. "Jamie, sweetie, it _is _always you."

He scoffed.

"They stole my broom!" Drew snapped, once again pissed off. When she thought about Samuel, it reminded her of…other things that stressed her out. When stressed, she went for a fly, which was impossible without her beautiful broom. "Albus, they stole my broom!"

"You stole her _broom_? Do you have a _death _wish?" asked Albus.

"Who stole who's broom?" Lily Potter appeared with Hugo Weasley.

"They," Rose motioned to Fred, Russell, James and Logan. "Stole Drew's broom."

Lily blanched. "What? Is there something mentally wrong with you? She'll _kill_ you."

Drew nodded.

A fight broke out, Drew shouted for her broom to be returned, her friends refused while also trying to ignore the encouragement behind them that said to give Drew her broom back. In the end, Drew was hitting her friends with her Transfiguration book while they ran for cover.

"What's going on here?" Professor Longbottom yelled, grabbing Drew's arm to stop her from pouncing onto her brother's back.

"Nothing!" Fred panted.

"She's trying to kill us!" Russell screamed. "Stop her!"

"Why?" Longbottom asked.

"They stole her broom," Harley came running over with Dom and Melody behind her. "And, obviously, she's not happy."

"Why did you steal her broom?" Longbottom questioned. "You know she needs that thing."

"Did you hear what she did last year?" James cried.

Longbottom grinned and let out a little chuckle. "Tough love boys, tough love."

Then he walked away, probably to eat his dinner.

It was conformation for Drew that Longbottom was her favourite teacher.

However, she didn't get to knock her friends out like she wanted as Harley and Melody pulled her away and back to the common room. Drew sat on her seat, her mind coming up with possibilities of where her broom could be. She quickly came to the conclusion that it could be anywhere, after all, James owned the Marauders Map. Her broom could be in a trap door in the middle of a deserted corridor somewhere.

The thought made her whimper.

What is a Slytherin got their hands on it?

"This DADA homework is really hard," Melody whined. "He said we did it last year, but I don't remember."

Drew took a moment away from her thoughts to respond. "It's the first fucking week. Who gives homework out?"

"Pretty much every teacher we've had," Harley answered.

"O.W.L.S. were bad enough," Melody continued. "I worked my arse off for them. What's N.E.W.T.S. going to be like?"

"I still don't know how Drew passed O.W.L.S.," Dom spoke up.

Drew would have pointed out that this was the first time Dom had properly spoken all night, but she realised she was being insulted. "What do you mean? I'm smart!" she cried.

"I didn't say that. But that was the year you were given Quidditch captain and you were hell-bent on winning," Dom replied quietly.

"I don't think I saw you study once," Harley smirked.

Drew shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. She hated it when her friends talked about their O.W.L.S. results, it always made her feel sick.

"Yeah, well…" Drew mumbled, shrugging.

She slumped into the cushions as the conversation between her friends picked up again. She was staring at the ceiling blankly when she felt her brother sit down on his usual seat. Moving her eyes to him, she saw he was grinning impishly.

"I've done it in your best interest," he said instantly. "And I know you might hate me right now, but I love you."

"Shut up, Logan," she rolled her eyes.

"I can't help the love I feel for my twin."

"You disgust me."

"With my love?"

She reached over and shoved him off the stool. He fell to the floor in a large heap, Drew laughing hysterically behind him. Figuring that he was likely to tickle her once he recovered, Drew moved to the couch and propped herself onto the couch arm. Fred smiled at her as she got comfortable.

Her heart didn't skip at all…honestly.

"Alright, aggressive?" he sniggered.

"Why are all the boys in my life annoying today?"

"Ever thought it's you, not everyone else?"

"Never."

"Of course."

She smirked. "Looking forward to your early morning start on Saturday?"

"You're pure evil, you know that?" he sighed. "It's a good job I like you, Andrea Elizabeth."

Drew felt her lips tug at his words. "I like you too, Fred Fabien."

"Soppy," Fred grinned. "Guys aren't meant to share moments like this."

"I'm a girl."

"No you're not. You're a guy with boobs."

He was joking, obviously. He had that cheeky smile and sparkling, mischievous eyes.

But Drew felt her heart crush.

Fred was never going to see her as anything more than his friend. She was Quidditch obsessed and slightly violent Drew. She wasn't girlfriend material, especially for someone like Fred. All of his girlfriends liked reading _Witch weekly_, painting their nails, gossiping. Drew would rather read the Quidditch magazines and have a good, hostile game of Quidditch. She didn't care about nails or fashion, and the most time she ever took to care about appearance was when she was going to a Ministry party with her family, and even then that was only because her mum would never let her leave the house if she wanted to turn up in a t-shirt and skinny jeans.

Gulping, Drew turned back to her friends and tried to concentrate on what they were saying. However, Fred's words wouldn't leave her head.

"Turn it up," Harley requested suddenly, distracting Drew momentarily from her thoughts. Russell, who was sat closest to the radio, did as he was asked and Drew realised that it was Harley's brothers' band singing their latest song. _Graves' Boys_ was described by various magazines and _The Daily Prophet _as the new _Weird Sisters_, which was fitting considering all of the members were the sons of the late Merton Graves, cellist for the _Weird Sisters _when they were still around. Harley was not a member just yet, she wasn't allowed to join them until she had graduated, but she still wrote songs for them, played with them during the holidays and provided her voice and instrument skills for their records.

Shaking her head, Drew fell back on the couch and stared at the fire. She always forgot that most of her friends were famous. James, Fred and Dom were part of the Weasley-Potter family, while Harley was the only daughter of a _Weird Sister_. She was nowhere near as famous as James, Fred and Dom, but she was sometimes in the papers, especially since her brothers' band had risen in popularity. The Applestone's biggest claim to fame was that John, Drew's dad, was a Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, but that didn't mean Drew was in any way recognized. She was known more as 'James Potter friend' or 'The Weasley's family friend' than Drew Applestone.

Drew went to bed early, making an excuse of being tired and frustrated about her missing broom. She had changed into her pyjamas and went into her draw to put her wand away. There was an envelope on top of all her other crap. She grabbed it, wondering if it was a letter from her dad she had thrown away, but the writing was too neat to be from her dad.

Scowling, she tried to think of what it was. She hadn't got any letters from her mum yet, nor any other member of her family. She ripped it open and opened the page.

_Drew,_

_Keeping secrets must run in the family. I know you have plenty, and daddy isn't exactly the most open person, is he?_

_Anyway, how's Sam these days? Still covering for him, I see._

_-X_

Drew felt her stomach twist.

What the bloody fuck?

She looked up and stared around the room, making sure nobody was there or watching her. When she was certain she was alone, she looked back down at the paper and reread the words.

And what did the person mean about her dad? She knew her dad was an arse, but how did this person know that? Did…did they know about _her_?

Drew's fist clenched and the letter crumpled.

Who _the fuck_ was this?

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><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>

**Thanks for the reviews and alerts!**

**-Laylax**


	4. Melody Valentine

**Don't own anything.**

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><p>"One lie has the power to tarnish a thousand truths."<br>― Al David

**Chapter 3: Melody Rose Valentine**

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><p><strong><em>Melody Rose Valentine<em>**

Running down the hill, Melody giggled brightly as the wind rippled through her hair, slowing only to admire a nearby butterfly. She adored the uncontrollable feeling in her legs as they struggled to balance on the slightly wet grass. She started to slow and came to a stop as she entered the Quidditch grounds. The Quidditch try-outs had ended a while ago as not many people actually tried out, knowing that last year's team would surely be picked again, not to mention they had started at six in the morning.

It had taken an hour and a half to get everyone out of bed (mainly Fred who refused to move and was too heavy to be lifted), and by the time they started the actual training it had been nearly nine o'clock. Rose, who had been dragged down by Lily, told Melody this information when she returned to the common room at half ten, complaining about the waste of time she had just experienced.

Melody decided to check up on the team, mostly because Dom was being moody and Harley was too busy playing music to do anything

"Are you guys done yet?" Melody asked Drew. "I'm bored and no one will play with me."

Drew yawned. "Yeah, nearly," she said.

Melody noticed the dark circles around her friend's eyes and felt her eyebrows raise.

"Drewie are—"

"Mellie!" James yelled as he finished his last end of practice lap, interrupting Melody's concern. "You're here!"

Melody had little time to breathe before she was engrossed into a famous James Potter bear hug. "Bloody hell, Jamie," Melody muttered. "You stink."

"Offensive," he grunted.

"You need a shower before I spend time with you."

"You're not worthy of my presence."

She hit him. "Don't be mean."

"I'm joking, Mels," he kissed her forehead. "I'll use body wash, especially for you."

Snorting, Melody watched as James ran off into the changing rooms.

She didn't know how their friendship happened, really.

He was the first friend she ever made. On the train ride to Hogwarts for her first year, she had fell into someone as she dragged her trunk down the corridors. That person turned out to be James Potter who, instead of being mad, laughed and invited her to sit with him and his cousins. Without waiting for an answer, he pulled her down the train, all the while asking her questions and not quite waiting for her reply. He introduced her to his cousins, Fred and Dom, who were waiting for him to return to the compartment.

The rest, as the saying goes, was history.

It was cheesy and cliché, but Melody didn't mind. James was her best friend, one of her favourite people in the entire world. Of course, she loved Dom, Drew and Harley, they were her family and she had shared too much with them to ever lose her bond with them—but James was different. Not better or worse, just different. James was the person she went to for anything; for a laugh, for a cry, or even to sit in silence. She could spent months with him without a break and not be sick of his company, and he was the only person in the world she reckoned she could wholeheartedly love no matter what.

But that didn't mean she'd told him anything.

She _couldn't _tell him anything.

Sighing, Melody followed the Quidditch team into the changing rooms. She could hear them in the showers and took a seat on the bench to wait for their return. Logan and Russell were the first to come back, towels wrapped around their waists and hair dripping.

"Hey Mel," Logan greeted.

Melody squeezed her eyes shut at the sight of her best friends half-naked. She was starting to remember why she normally waited outside for James. "Hey guys, how was practice?" she asked.

One of them laughed, most probably at her screwed up face.

"It was good. Drew's too tired to shout at us," Russell replied.

"Is she okay?"

"I think so," Logan said. "I thinks she's just knackered from screaming at Fred this-morning."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that."

"I think the whole bloody castle heard it."

Melody laughed and then bit her lip. "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yeah."

She was relieved that they both had tops on when the world came back into view. Too many times she had asked that question only for Fred's arse to be inches from her face when her lids fluttered open.

Sometimes, she worried about her choice of friends.

As she thought this, Albus, James and Fred walked out of the showers. Melody did not close her eyes this time, too cautious around Fred who was already grinning cheekily at her.

"I love it when you come into the changing rooms," Fred said as he went over to his things. Dropping his towel unashamedly to show off the small, blue boxers he wore, he grabbed his top. "It's so fun to torture you. You blush far too easily."

Melody rolled her eyes, but could feel her cheeks heat up at his words. It wasn't that she fancied any of her friends—far from it in fact—but seeing half-naked men was sure to make any teenage girl feel a little hot. Especially if said friends had quite fit bodies and attractive faces.

"Shut up, Fred." Melody blinked for it was not her who said the words. She looked up at James as he stepped up beside her, his things were a mere foot away from her head. James winked down at her, a broad grin on his face. "Mel can't help it if we make her feel a little hot under the collar."

"I'm not hot under the collar for you lot," Melody huffed. She looked into the corner of the room, smiling when she saw Albus quietly pulling on his jogging bottoms. "Albus is so much better."

James' younger brother turned at the sound of his name. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing!" Melody chirped, skipping to him. "I was just saying I think you're handsome."

His eyebrows lifted in amusement. "Eh…thanks, Mel."

She beamed, whipping around to stick her tongue out at Fred and James who looked thoroughly put-out.

"What's going on?" Roxanne Weasley questioned as she and Drew entered the changing area, both dressed in jogging bottoms, tank tops and jackets. "Why do Fred and James look like they've been hit by a hammer?"

"Melody fancies Albus," Russell chipped.

Roxanne frowned. "Ew."

"I'd prefer it if you didn't stupefy my team, Mel," Drew snorted.

"They were being annoying."

"I believe you. But I need their focus."

Melody shrugged. "Want to come and hang out?"

"Nah, I'm going to get some food," Drew grabbed her things from her peg. "I'll see you later though, yeah? We'll do the DADA homework."

Melody nodded as Drew walked out the door, Fred chasing after her muttering something about starvation and a hamburger. The Quidditch team quickly dispersed after that until all that was left was James, who was always last because he liked to clean his beaters bat before he put it away, and Melody. When his beater's bat was safely packed in its pocket, Melody stood and pushed open the door.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked back to the castle, blocking the chilly autumn air from her exposed neck.

"So how was Saturday morning without me?" he asked as they started up the stairs.

"Boring," Melody replied. "Harley is playing her guitar and I'm lucky if I can get two words out of Dom."

"I know, she's been weird lately, hasn't she?"

"Understatement, she's hardly said a sentence all week."

"Maybe she's stressed out about work or something. You know Dom, she does this sometimes." He nudged the flower headband in her hair softly with his nose. There was a stretch of silence as they hopped up the stairs. "Mel…do you really fancy my brother?"

Melody giggled, glancing at James' profile as he looked down at the floor. "No, I don't fancy your brother, silly," she said. "I was just winding you up."

"Good," he breathed, relief washing over his face. "Not that I don't want you to be happy…but it would be weird to see you and Albus snogging in broom closets."

She squeezed his waist as they entered the castle, snuggling into his side. Though it might be strange, she loved his protectiveness and suspicion. Lily, James' younger sister, always complained her eldest brother was too overprotective, and even Dom got in a few criticisms. However, Melody never whined, though she could understand why the other girls found it annoying.

Unlike Lily and Dom, Melody never had anyone to protect her before James came along. Her father left before she was born and her mum raised Melody alone and, though she did try, Melody's mother wasn't exactly the most maternal or loving woman. She never had any external family, her mum's parents died long ago and Cora was an only child, leaving Melody in the care of friends or numerous boyfriends when Cora wanted to go out. Two years later, Melody's younger brother, Dylan, was born, and Melody was no longer on her own. However, her mother did not stop there, she continued on to have four more children; Fern, Prudence, Ross and Piper.

Melody was never alone again, but she was always the carer, not the cared for. She had to take care of her younger siblings, and she never really had anyone to hug her and stroke her hair. That was until James appeared in her life, all smiles, hugs and declarations of love.

Lily and Dom had their fathers, mothers, Aunts, Uncles, grandparents, cousins and whoever else that loved them (their family was honestly far too big), and had too much protection to appreciate it. Harley had her five brothers who would literally take over the world if it made her happy, Drew had Logan from the second she was born, three minutes after her twin. Russell, Fred and James had their families, and Logan had Drew, who would do anything for her brother though Melody knew that she would never admit it.

So Melody happily took James', and any others, protection and jealousy, maybe a bit greedily.

They hung out in the common room together until dinner. When they walked into the Great Hall, a blonde teenager ran over to them.

"Mel," Dylan mumbled grumpily. "Mum sent a letter."

_Kids,_

_I don't have any money to send you this month. Piper broke my wand and I had to buy a new one._

_-Mum_

Holding back a groan, Melody folded the letter into her pocket. Truthfully, she really wanted her allowance this month. There was a book that Hagrid suggested the class get to help them in their studies, but it was not provided by the school. She was going to spend her money on it and skip the sweets from Honeydukes and butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks.

James had gone to join their friends at the table, leaving the siblings to talk. Melody made sure they weren't listening and turned to her brother.

"Do you need anything?" she asked.

"Not really," Dylan shrugged. "But Ross needs a cauldron for potions."

"What about my old one?"

"Fern has it."

"Yours?"

"Prudence has it."

"Bugger," Melody whispered. Quickly digging into her pockets, she managed to fish out two galleons. "Will that be enough?"

"No, but I've got two spare. We'll get one next Hogsmeade trip."

Melody nodded, ruffling his hair. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

And because she was the oldest and looking after her siblings was all she had ever known, Melody went to check on her rather large family. The twins, who were sat at the Hufflepuff together, assured her that they were fine, and Dylan gave her a small smile from the Ravenclaw table, giving her some sort of comfort that even though he was now skint for the rest of the month, he'd survive. Ross, the youngest of her siblings that went to Hogwarts, whined about her embarrassing him in front of his newly made friends before sending her away muttering that he was perfectly fine and she needn't worry. Melody joined her friends near the top of the Gryffindor table with a sigh.

"Stop studying so much," Fred was whinging to Dom as Melody slipped in beside James. "Your brain is literally going to fizzle."

"Just because every time you glance at a book your brain starts to smoke, doesn't mean everyone's does," Russell mocked.

Fred glared at his friend. "You suck, Peakes."

"It's not studying," Dom said, snatching her book back. "It's _Pride and Prejudice_."

"What?"

"A muggle book."

"Leave her alone Freddy-boy," Drew smirked, the effect minimalized by her bloodshot eyes and pale skin. "It's not her fault your vocabulary doesn't stretch beyond Quidditch magazines."

Melody chuckled along with her other friends as she piled her plate with food. They returned to the common room together, each collecting their own things from the dorms before settling on the couches for the night. As Melody worked on her Herbology homework, she peered up at Dom who was idly staring at the wall.

"Dom, you okay?" Melody asked softly.

Dom blinked, turning her blue eyes towards her friend. "Yeah, why?"

"You look pale."

"I don't feel too good," Dom muttered. "Nothing to worry about."

Melody raised her eyebrows but stayed quiet.

By the time everyone had finished their homework, there was little time for hanging out. Melody left the group first to have a bath before going to bed. She was laid in bed afterwards and reached to grab her DADA notes to read over for the next morning. When she opened the first pages, an envelope fell out. Without a second thought, Melody grabbed it and ripped the top open, figuring it was James or Dom giving her a picture to hang on her wall.

However, it wasn't a picture.

She frowned at the almost blank page as her eyes zoned in on the small, black writing in the middle.

_Melody,_

_I really like the skirt you were wearing today. Did you make it yourself? Of course you did, everyone knows you didn't buy it, Mel…_

_How's DADA going? Cast any Obliviating spells lately?_

_You know they're going to get you eventually._

_-X_

Melody squeaked as her heart leapt into her throat. Gasping for breath, she sat up and threw her book onto the floor. The envelope was laid on her legs, ripped and crinkled from Melody's hands. She felt like it was burning her skin. Stuffing the letter and envelope into the bedside draw, she slowly cuddled into her mattress.

She nervously pulled the cover over her head like it would protect her.

But nothing could protect her now.

_What the hell was that?_

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><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>

**Thanks for the reviews and alerts!**

**Sorry about the wait, my laptop broke and I just got a new one last night. Luckily, I had my files backed up and, because I've wrote a good chunk of this story already, I was able to post this today. Hope you enjoy it!**

**-Layla**


	5. Harley Graves

**Don't own anything.**

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><p>"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies."<br>― Oliver Goldsmith

**Chapter 3: Harley Graves**

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><p><strong><em>Harley Marguerite Graves.<em>**

Harley wasn't ashamed to admit that she was hiding.

As much as she loved her friends, she liked to have alone time. She liked playing her guitar or piano or whatever other instrument she fancied playing, singing a song and thinking. She liked the peace and contentment it brought. Not to mention that her friends were being annoying lately. Fred and Russell were having some sort of end of school crisis and had decided to make it 'a year to remember', which meant they had been found in various broom closets with multiple girls and were pulling at least five pranks a day. Logan and James weren't too bad, though they complained about homework every second they could. The girls were acting _weird_. Dom constantly looked like she was distracted by something serious, Drew could hardly keep her eyes open and spent all of her time flying, and Melody jumped at any small noise and couldn't stop fiddling with things.

So Harley retreated to the place she knew she would find her serenity.

Her music.

She was sat in the middle of the small room, her guitar in her lap as she pulled at the strings. Music was all that Harley really felt like she had to contribute. She wasn't academic, she didn't like anything interesting and she wasn't that into Quidditch—but music was everything to her. She'd grown up with it, her dad was Merton Graves, the cellist for _The Weird Sisters_. She and her family travelled the Wizard World with him and the band until he died. She was taught to play every instrument her dad and the band could play, and loved every second, and she still did the same now with her brothers.

When her parents died, her brothers set up a band, _Graves' Boys__,_ in memory of their mum, Marguerite Graves. When Harley was thirteen, and three years after the death of her beloved mum, her brothers gained Wizard Worldwide recognition. Now they were a proper band with gigs, radio time—hell, they even had t-shirts. Harley was an 'unofficial' member, during school holidays she played with them and travelled with them, helped her brothers write songs and even wrote a few by herself, but she wasn't allowed to join for real until she finished school as an order from her eldest brother, Casper, (the head of the household since they had been orphaned).

Harley just wished her parents were around to see everything. Her dad would have been so proud that they had followed in his footsteps.

Sighing, she packed away her guitar in the cupboard. The music room was only small, it wasn't exactly the most popular subject in the school. Different years were usually mixed together, Harley was with the sixth and fifth years and there was still only six in the class, including her younger brother Devin. It was right at the back of the school, only half the size of the other classrooms. The choir also practiced in there at nights and they had two sections of the eight that were provided for storage. It was also more informal, proved by the fact that the teacher was called by his first name, Ian, rather than 'Professor' or 'Mr Decker'.

Harley made her way back to the Gryffindor common room and found her friends sat at the fire. Plonking in her usual seat by the window, she asked, "Where's Drew?" after noticing that she was not sat with her twin brother.

"Flying, obviously," James replied. "Have you seen Mel?"

"Not since DADA, why?"

"She's been weird lately."

"She's always weird," Fred grinned.

"Yeah, but she's even weirder," James said, aiming a cushion at his cousin. "Every time I go near her, she jumps. Yesterday in Herbology, a plant went to bite her and she nearly had a heart attack."

"Ask her," Harley advised. "I'm sure she'll tell you."

James nodded, shrugging.

"Everyone's been weird lately," Russell commented, huffing. "Drew is in the air more than she's on the ground, and Dom's practically turned into a zombie."

"What could have freaked them all out so much?" Logan asked.

"Maybe it's just seventh year nerves," Harley tried to pacify the boy's worry. "We've got loads of work, and we're leaving next year, never to come back. It might be scaring them a bit."

"It's scaring me, too," James muttered. "But you don't see me having a breakdown over a bloody Snargaluff."

Seconds later, the portrait door opened and Melody walked into the common room. She quietly sat in her seat and yawned.

"Where the hell have you been?" James snapped as Melody curled into the couch.

She nuzzled her head into the cushion. "I've been helping Ross with his homework."

"Why are you so tired?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night."

Sighing, James wrapped his arms around her. "I thought you'd been eaten by the giant squid."

"Why would he eat me? He likes me," she muttered sleepily.

Harley laughed as she watched her friend fall asleep in the middle of the common room. James shook his head as Melody snuggled into him. Harley shuffled down the seat and flopped her head against the back of the chair. She wondered if she should be worried about her friends or if it really was just seventh year jitters. Also, it wasn't like this was the first time her friends got like this. Dom went almost mute when she was anxious about homework and exams (which they were having a lot of lately), Drew spent most of her time flying anyway, maybe she was flying as much as she could before the first game, and Melody could sometimes spend too much time making clothes and jewellery and forget to sleep.

But if they boys were noticing as well, that really meant something was going on. She didn't mean it in a bad way, but they weren't exactly the most observant people in the world. They never realise anything is wrong until there's tears or shouting, though Logan and Drew had a strange twin thing that made him sense something was up before Drew could have a meltdown over it. James could read Melody quite easily, however, it wasn't like she was the hardest person to figure out. If she wasn't smiling, then there was something wrong.

Harley wished more people were like that, including herself. She wasn't good with emotions; other people's or herself. She never knew how to help someone and she was too stubborn to let anyone see her upset which usually resulted in her sobbing into her pillow on a night if she was sad. She supposed it all started when her mum got sick. Everyone had treated her like a piece of fragile glass, they didn't dare speak in front of her in case they hurt her and looked at her as if she was wounded. She hated it, even as a ten-year-old kid. It was then she decided to be strong, to show everyone (especially her mum and brothers) that she could handle herself. At the time it had seemed like a good idea. It seemed to comfort her mum, who worried over how Harley was going to cope without a female figure in her life, and her brothers stopped fussing over her and let finally themselves grieve.

However, Harley had never dropped the hard exterior. She kept it as she went to Hogwarts, when her dad died four years after her mum, during _that night_ and when she went to hospital…

Straightening quickly, Harley grabbed her head to try and get rid of the thoughts. Why did she do this? She promised herself that she would forget.

She grabbed her bag and took out some homework to do. As the night went on and the sky turned dark, Harley felt her muscle's cramp up and stopped her homework to stretch out. Looking up, she saw that Logan and Fred were pacing.

"What are you two doing?" she questioned.

"Where's Dom?" Fred snapped, clenching his jaw.

"And Drew?" Logan added heatedly.

"They've not come back?" Harley muttered. "It's nearly curfew."

"I know!" Fred cried shrilly. "I'm going to find them, you coming?"

He stormed out, dragging Russell with him. Logan glanced at James and Melody who were asleep on the couch and then motioned for Harley to follow him. Jumping to her feet, she rushed out and down the stairs. They split at the end of the staircase, Harley went right and Logan went left. She searched for her friends, calling out their names as time ticked on and curfew got even closer. Out of desperation, she went into the library though she knew the likelihood of them being in there was slim to none.

There were few people left at this time of the night and Harley sighed when she didn't see her friends. However, she did see someone she knew and walked over, plopping down on the chair beside him.

"Hey Al," she greeted James' younger brother.

"Oh, hey Harl. What're you doing in here?"

"Looking for your bloody cousin," she grumbled. "And Drew. You haven't seen them, have you?"

"No, sorry."

"I'm pretty sure they've disappeared. I haven't seen them since DADA."

"I can help you look," he offered, already packing away his things. "I was about to leave anyway."

"Thanks."

They trailed out of the library together. Most people were heading back to their common rooms, not wanting to get a detention for being out after hours.

"I'm going to get in trouble," Harley sighed. "I've already got a detention for missing DADA the other day."

"You missed D.A.D.A?"

"I got carried away with writing a song," Harley admitted sheepishly. "I didn't realise what time it was until it was too late."

"Yeah, James always says that you go off in your own little world," he grinned and Harley snorted. "Anyway, I'm a prefect. I'll just say you're helping me with…prefect business."

Harley glanced at the shiny badge on his robes. Rather reluctantly, the teachers had chosen Dom and Logan as the Gryffindor prefects for her year. Dom had been okay, she liked doing rounds and being able to use the prefect bathrooms. Logan, however, was possibly the worst prefect ever. He missed his rounds, he told all of his friends the prefect's bathroom password, he abused his power by giving Slytherin's detention for little to nothing, and stayed out with girls when he was supposed to be making sure no one was out after hours. Harley was always surprised that he didn't get the badge taken away from him, but she supposed he was the lesser of four evils. Fred and Russell would have been even worse, while James generally couldn't be bothered and would let people get away with everything.

Albus was the perfect choice. He was sweet and hard-working, but people would listen to him because he was a Potter. Harley was pretty sure Rose was the girl Gryffindor prefect, and Harley could imagine that the teachers were extremely thankful for them after the years they'd had with Dom and Logan.

"Congrats on that, by the way," she said.

"Thanks. I think I only got it because of Neville. The other teachers reckoned I was too much of a Potter."

"Well, they are known for breaking the rules."

Chuckling, Albus nodded in agreement. They looked around the castle for another half an hour and then headed back to the common room. When they entered, Dom and Drew were being lectured by Logan and Fred, Melody was glaring at them for waking her up and James was still asleep.

"You found them, then," Harley called over the noise. "You could have come and told me. I was still looking for them!"

"Sorry," Logan snapped. "I'm too busy readying myself to kill my twin sister."

"I was _flying_." Drew growled. "It was obvious where I was! Why don't you calm down?"

"Because I haven't seen you all day! I didn't think it was possible for a person to fly for over _six hours_!"

Drew rolled her eyes. "You talking to _me_, Logon. Six hours is barely a long session."

"And Dominique was down by the lake," added Fred. "_Studying_."

"People are allowed to revise, Fred," Dom sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise what time it was."

"Not to mention we're both seventeen and legally adults," Drew grumbled.

"We'd appreciate a notice, alright?" Fred snipped. "Now, I'm hungry. Has anyone got food?"

There was a collective sigh as the group settled down in their usual seats. Fred huffed and turned towards Harley.

"Hey Al, what you doing here?" he asked.

"I was helping Harley," Albus replied. "She looked a little lost when she came into the library."

"He's a nice guy, unlike you," Harley tittered. "Leaving me to roam the castle by myself."

Fred grinned. "I know you're perfectly capable of looking after yourself, that's why."

"Sure." She bit, turning to Albus. "Thank you for helping me. I'll see you around?"

Nodding, Albus waved goodbye and headed up the boys dormitory stairs.

"Remember when he had a crush on you?" Melody asked tiredly as Harley sat down. "It was so cute."

"He didn't have a crush on me," Harley murmured though it was rather pointless.

It was a known fact among many that Albus had fancied Harley for a few years when he first started Hogwarts. He used to blush in her presence and even told his brother that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. The crush had only lasted until fourth year when Albus returned from the summer holidays five inches taller and much more mature. He no longer stayed silent when she was around and was actually able to form sentences without turning the shade of his mum's hair, and helped her with some homework in the Great Hall a few times. He even had a girlfriend—Juno Young from Hufflepuff—for seven months until they broke up in the summer.

Harley had never really returned his feelings. He was good-looking, of course, though not the type of guy she would usually go for. The best thing about him was his personality—his sweet, caring, happy-go-lucky attitude that made Harley smile when she was in his presence. Then again, he had grown-up more over the holidays. He didn't have the baby-face he previously obtained, and he had filled out a little more instead of being the lanky boy she had known.

And he had the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen.

Okay, so he was pretty hot.

Not that she was going to admit it.

"Yes he did," Dom joined in the conversation. "In fact, I think you were his first love."

"How sweet," Drew smiled sarcastically. "Where are we on that food thing?"

Harley shook her head and went upstairs to continue the song she had been working on that morning. Plonking on her bed, she picked up her guitar from under her bed and rested it in her lap. She went to test out the strings only to find an envelope. Frowning, she picked it out, silently wondering who would put an envelope there. It was a strange place to put it and people were generally too afraid to touch her instruments in case they damaged them in some way and Harley would set a fireball on them.

She opened the letter and felt her heart plummet to her feet.

_Harley,_

_Did you enjoy your trip to Australia? _

_Oh, wait, you didn't really go, did you?_

_Secrets don't stay secrets forever, Harl._

_-X_

The guitar slipped out of her lap and clambered to the floor. Her skin began to burn as she looked around her dorm, wondering if what she was seeing was a dream or reality. She ripped the paper to shreds and threw it into the bin beside her bed, her heart thumping so hard she reckoned it was soon to explode and burst out of her chest.

She felt a sob rise up her throat.

It was real.

Someone knew her secrets.

_Oh, shit_.

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><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>

**Thanks for the reviews and alerts!**

**-Layla**


	6. Dom Weasley-No right answer

**Don't own anything.**

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><p>"There are few reasons for telling the truth, but for lying the number is infinite."<br>― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

**Chapter 5: Dom Weasley-No right answer**

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><p><em>Dominique Molly "Dom" Weasley.<em>

It was fair to say that Dom was freaking out.

She hadn't slept, found it hard to eat, and was reading so many books that she worried the library would run out of things for her to check-out. She tried to convince herself that it was all a part of her imagination, or maybe a prank by one of her friends or family. Forgetting about it was the only thing she could think to do, because facing the fact that someone _knew_ was too hard and trying to find the person that wanted to torture her like this didn't seem very appealing. So she read books, a lot of them. From the old, dusty books from the back of the Hogwarts library, to the muggle books that her aunt Hermione would buy her and Rose would lend her.

She wanted to tell someone. She wanted to tell James, for him to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay—that was what James did. He helped and he protected and told you the world was perfect and you were perfect even if everything else was telling you otherwise. She would believe him, too, because that's just the type of person James was. He might sugar-coat things to diminish the blow of reality, but she knew for certain that he would do everything in his power to actually make his words come true. She wanted to tell Fred and Russell, to let them make jokes and take the piss out of everyone to make her feel better, and she wanted to tell Logan, because he gave great hugs and wasn't afraid to give them to people who needed them. She wanted to tell the girls, because Drew would beat the person up with a beaters bat and enjoy it for threatening her friend, Harley would sing her a song that would make her smile, and Melody saw the good in everything and everyone and Dom needed that.

But she couldn't. She had kept too many things from them, lied about too much and they wouldn't—_couldn't_—forgive her. They shared a lot, maybe too much, Dom and her best friends. The girls especially, because they had something that tied them together, something that made them best friends for life even if they didn't want to be. They had a secret that they shared, a secret that only they knew about, and a secret that would be forever kept until each of them were long dead. They'd agreed on it—_swore_ on it. At one point, they'd thought about making an Unbreakable Vow so they knew no one would say anything, but figured that they weren't going to say anything anyway (none of them wanted to go to Azkaban) so there was no point of it, especially considering none of them were quite powerful enough yet to actually cast the spell to create the Unbreakable Vow.

However, Dom had made mistakes, a lot of them. And she couldn't just blurt them all out to her friends after so long of keeping it all to herself. To be honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to. She didn't want to lose them, she didn't want the judgement that she would surely get. She didn't want to be cast aside by them. She needed them, more than they realized. They were what got her through her mistakes even though none of them knew a thing about any of them. When she was down, they would pick her up, swing her round, and laugh so joyfully and loudly that it was impossible not to catch their happiness. So, for mostly selfish reasons, she wasn't going to say anything.

But that didn't mean she wasn't scared shitless.

Who _was _this person? How did X know about her? Why was he even interested? What had she done? Was he going to tell anyone?

That was what frightened her the most. What if the letters weren't the only thing he was doing? What if he was telling other people, maybe the _Daily Prophet_? The paper would be interested, she was a Weasley after all, and it would be plastered across the papers and magazines faster than Dom could even try to stop it. And then everyone would know. The girls, James, Fred, Russell, Logan, her grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins…her parents. Merlin, her parents. They would be so disappointed, so distraught. She couldn't do that to them.

So she destroyed the letter and the envelope and pretended nothing had happened. She was pretty sure her friends knew _something_ was up (honestly, she didn't look her best) but they thought it was to do with school, seventh year, and N.E.W.T.S. As long as they didn't know the truth, Dom was fine with them thinking that. Honestly, if she didn't have other things to worry about, she would probably be freaking out about her N.E.W.T.S. like they thought she was. She'd done it with her O.W.L.S., from the first week of her fifth year she began to study past midnight and do extra work in lessons and did her homework four times over to make sure it was perfect. It was not until November did she calm down, when James, Fred and Professor Longbottom kindly sat her down in Longbottom's office and basically told her she was bat-shit crazy. Dom agreed after a little coaxing and sent a letter to her aunt Hermione, who promptly sent her a study schedule.

She was sat reading a Potions book when the bell for lunch rang. She had finished her Transfiguration work halfway through the lesson and had been allowed to go to lunch early. Knowing that she was not going to get any peace (and that Fred was going to steal the book), she tucked it away in her bag and started to pick at the food that was starting to appear around her. She couldn't find the strength to roll her eyes as her friends gathered around her, shouting and mocking each other without hesitation. She was so tired. She hadn't slept properly since getting the letter, and it was taking its toll on her body.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her cheek against her hand. She was just dozing off when there was a loud explosion that rattled the whole Great Hall. Dom jumped, fear tearing at her insides and wondering if X had come to get her, when she realised her friends were all laughing. The older Slytherin's were screaming out in fury as they tried to shake off the food and drink they were all covered in. A few stormed out of the Great Hall, sending a glare towards the Gryffindor table where Fred, Russell, Logan and James were blowing kisses and bowing to the cheering students.

"What have you done?" Drew asked flatly.

"Exploding sweets in the food and drink," Fred replied grinningly. "Good, huh?"

"They're going to be _pissed_."

"That's the whole point."

"How did you get the sweets over there?" Harley questioned. "We came in with you."

"We broke into the kitchens," Russell said.

"Distracted the house elves, put the sweets in and charmed the trays to go to the Slytherin table," James explained.

Logan swallowed his chicken and said, "Wasn't too hard. They're fascinated with James, being Harry Potter's son and all. Something about him and Hermione being saviours."

"Yeah…aunt Hermione has a thing for house elves. It's weird," muttered James.

"They're cute," Melody said quietly. "They're eyes are like massive diamonds."

Fred blinked, "I'd love to see the world through your eyes, Mel."

"You wouldn't be able to handle it, Freddy."

The rest of the day passed by in some sort of tired, dizzy haze. After lessons, Dom was sat in the common room finishing off her homework, figuring that doing homework down at the Black Lake again was a bad idea since Fred had almost sent out a search party last time. James was the first to join her, he plonked down beside her despite it not being his seat, wrapped his arms around her and grinned widely. Frowning, Dom dropped her paper and quill and huffed.

"How's it going?" James asked cheerfully.

"James, get off me."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

Her heart jumped into her throat but she ignored it. "Nothing's wrong."

"Liar." He replied, "You're getting like you did before…last year…you know."

Dom cringed and shuffled, though it was difficult with James' arms wrapped around her so tight. Last year…well, it wasn't a good one. Things happened, hearts were broken and Dom had made some mistakes. She'd become a zombie, unable to hide what she was feeling like she had so many times before. It had taken a while for her to recover, mostly because she had refused to tell anyone what had happened and no one had known how to help her. She'd finally come round after a visit to Romania with her Uncle Charlie, the place she always retreated to when she was upset, and she had returned feeling a little better. At least, she was able to function properly without having a breakdown every night.

"It's not like that," she promised quietly. "Just…I have a lot of work, you know?"

"That's what happens when you take seven subjects, Dommie."

"It was a good idea at the time."

"If you're finding it so hard, drop one."

"I don't want to…I'll handle my time better, I swear. You don't have to worry."

He didn't have time to pressure further as the rest of the group came back from their lessons. Russell and Fred chased James back to his seat next to Melody and the group talked about the Quidditch League while Dom silently worked on her homework.

"Shut up, Russell. The Magpies are _definitely _going to win the league—"

"The Bats are _five points _behind them, Drew. They'll catch up—"

"If you ask me, Puddlemere United are going to overtake everyone soon—"

"That's the point, James, no one _did _ask you—"

"CHUDLEY CANNONS!"

"No, Fred. Just no."

"My Uncle Ron said they're really improving—"

"Bullshit. They're tenth in the league."

"No one likes a know-it-all, Logan."

Dom shook her head as the noise level of her friends reached a new height, one that was not appropriate for the common room. Well, actually, it probably was, it wasn't a regular common room, it was the _Gryffindor _common room and therefore it was rowdy and chaotic, much like her friends. Still, it was too loud for her to work so she put her things down and leaned back into the couch with a sigh. She'd have to do it later, specifically in the library where her friends only went into when it was _absolutely _necessary, she wasn't sure Fred had even been in there yet.

"Oh my Merlin, shut _up_," Harley complained loudly. "You're giving Melody a migraine!"

Dom looked over to her friend who was laid across the small love seat, her legs spread over James' lap and her hands covering her face. At the mention of her name, she dropped her hands and peered at the group around her. "What?" she mumbled confusedly.

"More like we're giving _you_ a migraine," Russell rolled his eyes. "Mel's not even bothered."

"I've learnt to block you all out," murmured Melody, laying back down. "Especially when Quidditch is mentioned."

James snorted. "Quidditch talk annoys her."

"Me, too," Harley grumbled. "And Dom doesn't look all that interested."

Dom gave a small shrug.

"How can you_ not_ be interested?" Drew snapped. "It's _Quidditch_."

"Exactly," Harley said dramatically. "It's _Quidditch_. I mean, I love watching it as much as the next person, but, bloody hell, you lot take it obsession to a new extreme."

"Says the girl that spends ninety percent of her life in the music room."

"Music is important!"

"So it Quidditch!"

Another argument started and Dom quickly gathered her things before rushing up the stairs to the dorm. It was a fight that Dom was all too familiar with, what activity had the biggest meaning? Drew said Quidditch, Harley said music and then they'd drag everyone else into it which would result in Melody saying nature and friendship, Dom would say education and family, James and Logan would be too afraid to agree with anyone, and Fred and Russell would run away the moment Drew or Harley demanded which one of them was right. Normally, Dom would enjoy the display (her friends could be amusing…sometimes), but she wasn't in the mood. Her mind was too muddled to endure her friend's theatrics, not now she had X to worry about. Would he/she be watching them? The logical part of her said that was impossible, you couldn't get into the Gryffindor common room unless you knew the password…but what if X had somehow got the password? Or what if he/she was already a Gyffindor? What if X hurt her friends?

That was her biggest fear. That, to get to her, X would hurt the people she loved. She didn't know who or what X was, didn't know what he/she was capable of and what if X did something to her friends or family?

It made her feel sick, knowing that she could be putting her family and friends in danger because of her stupid mistakes. She'd made enough mistakes for all of her family and friends to be at risk…but what was she supposed to do?

Her brain started to throb as she thought of possible scenarios and outcomes. No matter how many she came up with, none of them were the right answer.

Because, really, there was no right answer.

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>

**Sorry for being a bit late, but things have been a bit crazy over Christmas!**

**-Laylax**


	7. Drew Applestone-Friends like family

**Don't own anything.**

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><p>"The truth is messy. It's raw and uncomfortable. You can't blame people for preferring lies."<br>―_ Holly Black, Red Glove_

**Chapter 6: Drew Applestone-Friends like family**

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><p><em>Andrea Elizabeth "Drew" Applestone.<em>

"MOVE YOUR ARSE FASTER, ROXY! AND TIGHTEN UP YOUR MOVEMENT, RUSSELL, BEFORE I COME UP THERE AND THROW YOU INTO THE BLOODY GOALS! FOR FUCK'S SAKE, JAMES, _STOP MISSING THE BLUDGER_!"

James, who was only about ten feet off the ground after chasing a bludger across the pitch, glared slightly at Drew before he sped upwards. Drew rolled her eyes, folded her arms and popped out her hip in annoyance, wondering why the hell she had chosen these people to be on her team when they _didn't listen_. Still, a part of her reasoned, they had led the Gryffindor team to victory last year. They'd won easily, a hundred points ahead of Ravenclaw before they had even started their winning game had meant they'd hardly even had to try. A little before the first hour, Albus had swooped across the sky and caught the snitch. The Gryffindor's had thrown the biggest and loudest party Drew had ever seen because of all the extra time they'd had to set up and sneak in alcohol.

She sighed, craning her neck to look at her team. They were zooming around above her, throwing quaffle's and battering bludger's to each other. Drew had a strong feeling they all wanted one of those things to smack her in the head so they could go back to the common room. They'd been here for four hours now, an extra hour onto the amount of time allocated for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Any minute now, the Hufflepuff's would be walking down and were sure to kick off if Drew and her team were still here.

Anyway, she took that back. Hufflepuff's can't kick off. Drew wasn't sure they could even frown, never mind call anyone. Even if her team went through to two o'clock, the Hufflepuff's wouldn't say a damn thing about it.

"ALL RIGHT!" Drew yelled, deciding that it was about time she got something to eat. "WE'RE DONE!"

It took all of five seconds for everyone to fly down and rush into the changing room, possibly afraid Drew would change her mind and make them work another hour. Drew slowly followed, by the time she stepped into the showers the others were getting ready to come out. As the warm water hit her head, Drew closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the tiled wall.

She was probably a little hard on her team. They were trying, _really_ trying in fact. They understood how important this year was for her, her _final _year at Hogwarts. She _needed _to win this year. She needed to leave Hogwarts knowing that she had walked away a winner, that she had led the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory. It was the only thing she had ever wanted, to win the Quidditch cup in her seventh year as captain.

But it wasn't that what was getting to her. If Drew Applestone knew anything, it was the pressure of Quidditch. She'd been on the team since her second year, the best chaser in the school even at the tender age of twelve. She'd been through three different captains, four wins and two loses, fifteen broken bones, four concussions, twelve fouls for offensive language and threaten of bodily harm, countless detentions for Quidditch rivalry between houses—so, no, the pressure of Quidditch was not what was getting to her.

It was X.

Whoever the fucker was, Drew couldn't stop thinking about him/her. How had X known _anything _about her? It wasn't possible that someone knew, unless they had somehow used the Legilimency spell on her…

Holy fuck, had they? They could have done it while she was sleeping or something and she wouldn't even know!

No. Surely not. She would know if someone had read her mind…right? She would feel it or something…wouldn't she?

But what if someone had? What if they knew _everything_? What if they told people? What if—

Fuck. She needed sleep. She hadn't slept properly for a week. Every time she would drift off, she would remember X and a surge of panic would hit her and she'd shoot up, heart pounding and head sweating.

After finishing her shower, she put on her underwear and wrapped a towel around herself. She walked into the changing rooms, the sound of laughter and jokes swarming around the small space and into her head. She almost cringed, loud noise was not appreciated when nursing such a raging headache. She placed her Quidditch gear down on the bench and gave Roxanne, who always had the space beside her, a small grin.

The girls had the smallest bench at the back of the changing rooms while the boys occupied the rest, the team's idea of creating privacy between the sexes. It seemed that Hogwarts didn't mind boys and girls sharing a Quidditch changing room the size of a rabbit burrow, even though they had made a spell so boys couldn't go in the girl's dorms. Her schools logics confused her sometimes. They hadn't even thought to build separate changing rooms when the Quidditch pitch was burned down during the Second War.

Drew didn't mind sharing, she had nothing that the boys would ogle and she liked the locker talk, she probably joined in more than she should. However, she could see how it would be a problem for girls who were self-conscious, though they could always change in the showers like Roxanne sometimes did. Drew was ready in no time, dressed in leggings and a jumper, and she talked to Roxanne for a little bit about the November match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Roxanne left to meet up with friends and Drew packed up her things, threw her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door.

"Drew," James grinned, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "You okay, oh mighty Captain?"

"I'm fine."

"Ah, I beg to differ, Applestone," he replied. "You're very tense lately. There must be a reason you tried to push Logan off his broom."

Her brother raised his eyebrows, "Thirty feet off the ground, may I add."

"I wanted him to move faster."

"And your answer to this is to try and _kill me_?" Logan asked.

"You're so overdramatic," Drew sighed.

Logan pulled her braid as the group headed out of the changing rooms. "You have anger issues."

"Just noticed?" smirked Fred.

"She's just passionate," Russell defended his Captain shamelessly. Drew rolled her eyes at him, if he thought flattery would get him out of laps and push-ups, he was terribly wrong. "Anyone else starving?"

Everyone agreed to head to the kitchens to grab some food for the common room. As they started walking up the stairs, a flash of blonde came tumbling down the hill and into James' arms. James lost his footing and stumbled back a few steps, a centimetre from falling down the stairs completely.

"Bloody hell, Melody," James mumbled.

"Sorry!" she squeaked. "I was having a nap and I slept longer than I wanted to! I was going to meet you at the changing rooms!"

"We're going for food," Drew said. "You coming?"

Melody nodded and hopped up to the stair Drew was on, breathing heavily because of her sprint from the Gryffindor common room. "I need a drink," she puffed.

"You need to exercise."

"Ew." Melody's nose scrunched.

When the group made it to the kitchens, the house elves immediately left their stations to rush over and greet them. Drew quickly slipped by them to sit at the table, not quite as obsessed with the tiny magical creatures as her friends were. Her favourite house-elf was Eddy, a blue-eyed, skinny guy that was always dressed in Quidditch jerseys and loved to talk about the games and league. However, Drew knew he was away in Ireland this week with two other house-elves (Ada and Jinky) to try and capture a picture of a rare, black coated unicorn. So she watched her friends with interest, smirking at their overall enthusiasm. James seemed to be doing some sort of chicken dance with one, Melody was in a deep conversation about the Giant Squid with three, and Fred and Russell were reciting the exploding food and drink prank they had pulled on the Slytherin's to a group of house-elves that were hanging on their every word.

Fifteen minutes passed and her friends had yet to sit down which, honestly, didn't surprise Drew. Her friends could hold a conversation for hours on end, especially with people they actually liked. She was jealous of that, really. Drew couldn't make small talk to save her bloody life and her ability to make friends was pretty much non-existent.

She knew, despite how much her friends would deny the facts, that she would not have the group of friends she had now if it wasn't for Logan. He was the talker, always had been. She could still remember her first train ride. She and Logan had trudged onto the train together, Drew's fist clasped onto her twins arm so she didn't lose him, and they'd run into James and Fred who were huddled together with some sort of WWW product in between them. Logan had laughed and blabbered on about how much he loved those things and how he used them all the time on his parent's friends and, right before Drew's eyes, she saw them _click_. It was an instant friendship. It had taken James all of two minutes to ask them to join their compartment and Logan had instantly followed, Drew awkwardly trailing with him like a lost puppy.

Dom had been the only girl at this point, curled in the corner with a book in her lap. She hadn't even glanced at Logan and Drew when they entered. Russell had been there, too, setting up a game of exploding snap that James jumped at the chance to play. Drew had watched her brother and his new friends bond, sometimes stealing peeks at Dom, who still hadn't looked up from that damn book, wondering if this was the time she should leave and let her brother be with these people that clearly had no interest in her.

Then Fred had mentioned Quidditch, something about how his Uncle Ron reckoned the Cannons were bound to improve any time now, and Drew had replied that the chaser had done a pretty impressive Reserve Pass last week. This one comment had set up the pathway for a three hour conversation between Drew and the boys, mostly Fred, that had not been interrupted even when Melody had entered the compartment, dressed from head-to-toe in butterfly accessories, with James and Harley, who had a guitar strapped to her back, with Russell.

It was probably one of the many reasons Drew loved Quidditch so much. The sport had given her the friends—the _family_—that she had today. She just thanked Merlin that her brother had spoken up at the moment he did because Drew wasn't sure where the two of them would be today without their friends. Possibly in jail somewhere, whether it be muggle or Wizard World.

Her friends finally joined her and the house-elves asked what they wanted to eat. Once they were all satisfied (Fred liked dessert, too), they went back to the common room. Drew and Fred sat on the floor together, half on the fireplace and half on the beaten up rug.

"Fred?" she said quietly after checking that no one else was listening. "If someone goes a Legilimency spell on you, would you know?"

He gave her a confused look and Drew bit her lip anxiously. She knew he was the least likely to know the answer, but he was also the least likely to ask why she wanted to know in the first place. "Um…depends on the Wizard's ability, I think," he answered, surprising her slightly. She expected him to shrug and shake his head. "My aunt Hermione can do them without you even knowing—that's why uncle Ron doesn't lie, you see—but my mum did it on my dad a few years ago—he spent an obscene amount of money on a parrot—and he said he got a headache. But that might have been to get Nana to make him food."

Drew nodded, letting this mull over for a while. She swallowed and asked the first thing that came to her mind, "How much he spend on the parrot?"

"A thousand galleons."

"Fucking hell."

"Yeah. Mum almost chucked him out over that one."

"You still have it?"  
>"Yep. Little Polly Weasley. She lives in the shop, mum didn't want her in the house. She shit all over."<p>

Snorting, Drew let her head fall onto her shoulder as the warmth of the fire started to make her feel a little tired. Fred took advantage of this and rested his head on top of hers. Without warning, Drew's heart started to pound against her chest. Her nose scrunched at the feeling; she felt like one of those stupid girls that Fred always flirted with, the ones that flicked their hairs, fluttered their eyelashes and puckered their lips. But when it came to Fred Arthur Weasley, that was what happened to Drew. He was the only one that had ever made her feel like that.

Drew squeezed her eyes shut to get rid of her thoughts. Why was she worrying about this when there was the threat of X exposing her secrets? He could tell everyone any second now, all of her friends would know what had happened, what she had done…

She began to shake at the thought. Fred lifted his head up and glanced at her concernedly while Drew took a deep breath to steady herself.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah…just thinking about the game," she lied.

"It's against Hufflepuff, you don't have much to worry about."

"I suppose."

"Alright?" Logan called out, plonking down on the floor with them and missing Drew's knee by about half an inch. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Fred answered before Drew could even open her mouth. "She's worried about the game."

"_Why_? We have this in the bag, Drewie. We've worked hard, the Hufflepuff's don't even care about the cup."

Drew shrugged.

Fred patted her on the back before he suddenly got up and ran over to some sixth year girls that were entering the common room, Russell at his tail. Logan softly elbowed her in the stomach and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Drew leaned into him, comforted by the action though he knew nothing of X or her unrequited love for Fred. He could do that, make her feel better without even trying. She guessed it was because of how they were brought up—them against the world, as Logan used to say before they came to Hogwarts. They'd supported each other since they were born (Drew three minutes after Logan, which he loved to remind her of) and it wasn't about to change now.

But Drew always wondered, would he still feel the same if he knew? Would he still love her? They were two halves of a whole and, though she would never admit it, when Logan wasn't around she could feel it. It wasn't something significant, like an arm or a leg, maybe just a pinky toe or a little finger, but it was still noticeable.

She just hoped it would always be like that.

"You're an idiot," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

And, because they were twins and he knew her so bloody well, he knew what that really meant.

"Love you, too, Drewie."

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>

**-Layla**


	8. Melody Valentine-Happy sort of

**Don't own anything.**

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><p><em>"But sometimes the lies we let ourselves believe are for our own good."<br>― Rob Thomas_

**Chapter 6: Melody Valentine-Happy...sort of**

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><p><em>Melody Rose Valentine.<em>

"Mellie, Mellie, Mellie—_Mel_!"

Melody giggled brightly and looked up from her sewing. "Hey Jamie," she greeted her best friend. "What's up?"

"I'm bored." He replied, plonking himself down onto the love seat. "What you doing?"

"Making a top," she smiled, holding the floral fabric against herself. "It was a dress an hour ago. Good, huh?"

"Very impressive," he complimented. "I can't believe you actually like doing all that shit. Normal people just go out and buy a top when they want a change."

Melody bit her lip anxiously, slowly piercing the material with the needle. "Well…everyone knows I'm not normal," she answered quietly.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant you're cooler."

"You're bias."

"Not bias if it's true."

"You're such a softy."

"Always," James grinned cheekily. "Anyway, you've certainly perked up from last week. Does this mean they'll be no more breakdowns over a bad tempered plant?"

Melody froze in her movements and swallowed thickly. She quickly recovered, pinning the needle through the material so James didn't get suspicious. She would admit that she had been off lately but she was a little irritated that James had brought her questionable behaviour up. Being reminded of her behaviour just gave Melody an onslaught of emotions—anger, confusion, fear, anxiousness—because then she was reminded of the reason for it. X had been constantly on her mind for over a week now and making this top had been one of the only things that had distracted her for more than a minute.

But James was just being his usual, concerned self. He'd asked her uncountable times what was wrong and how he could help, but that was the thing, he _couldn't_ help. At least, Melody didn't _want _his help. If he helped, he would have to know, and if he knew…well, Melody wasn't sure he would stick around and that terrified her to the core. So she passed her actions off as seventh year jitters (an actual thing among Hogwarts students) and James accepted this because he thought that she would never lie to him.

That made Melody feel sick.

She didn't want to lie to him. James was her best friend. She loved him, probably too much, which was why the possibility of losing him wasn't even fathomable. She didn't know what she would do without him.

"Just needed a bit of creative therapy," Melody grinned shakily. "And that plant was evil."

"You almost fainted."

"It _growled _at me."

"Plants don't growl."

"Yes they bloody well do."

James pouted, "You poor baby."

She stuck her tongue out, which he returned.

Melody continued her sewing while James watched. It was one of the rare peaceful moments on Melody's life, and she couldn't even bloody enjoy it because X was, once again, on her mind. Melody had no idea what to do about him. She couldn't confront whoever it was, she had absolutely no clue as to who it could be, and yet she felt silly just sitting around, pretty much waiting for him to pop out and grab her. Was he watching her now? How much did he know about her? Was he going to tell anyone?

She shuddered at the thought.

As she began to internally freak-out, there was a ruckus from the portrait hole. Melody let out a sigh of relief as Drew and Logan entered the common room, closely followed by the rest of her friends. Though most would call them too loud, Melody loved her noisy friends. They were an excellent distraction from, well, everything, and she needed them to support her—even though most of the time they had no idea that they were in fact helping.

"Where have you lot been?" James questioned as they all took their seats.

"Kitchen." Harley answered, "Fred wanted marshmallows."

Said teenager grinned contently from his space on the couch, rubbing his stomach for everyone to see, "They were awesome," Fred commented.

"Pig," snorted Dom.

"You better not have eaten too much," Drew said, raising her eyebrows almost threateningly. "We've got Quidditch practice in an hour."

There was a collective groan from the members of the Quidditch team who were around to hear her. "You're worse than last year!" complained James brashly. "Longbottom is going to put you down for torture soon, Vee."

Drew rolled her eyes, unsympathetic. "Pussies."

"Dictator."

"You love it," Harley sniggered to the boys. "We know you all like a woman in charge once in a while."

Russell smirked. "Well, she's not wrong."

"Please shut up," Logan groaned, "She's my sister. Quidditch will be ruined for me."

"There's being in charge and then there's being Drew," James said.

Fred nodded. "She makes people cry."

"I do not!"

"Quidditch try-outs." Fred stated, an amused and cocky expression on his face. "The second years."

"That was a fluke," Drew snapped. "And they were fucking stupid for thinking what I said was a threat—"

"You said you knew where they slept at night."

"Well…I do!"

Their bickering continued until Quidditch practice started. They stormed out together, shouting and laughing at the same time and earning various curious looks from onlookers that couldn't quite decide if what was happening was a fight or just a very loud conversation. Now left with only Dom and Harley, Melody tried to play a game with them but they were too occupied with their book and guitar, so Melody left to walk around the caste. Near the Great Hall, she saw someone very familiar and rushed over.

"Hey Dyl," Melody greeted her brother happily. She hadn't seen him much since the beginning of the year, with Dylan being in Ravenclaw and Melody in Gryffindor, they had little time to talk.

"Alright Mel?" he grinned.

"How's life?"

"Good. O.W.L.S. are kicking my arse, though."

"They kick everyone's arse," Melody said. "Want to have some dinner with me?"

They sat at the Gryffindor table together, catching up with each other's lives, when they were interrupted by two thirteen-year-old girls.

"Dylan," Fern sighed, hand on her hip. "The stupid owl gave me one of your letters again."

Prudence tittered, "Poor Alfie. The bloody thing needs to rest. We need another one."

"We can't afford another one," Melody said, pulling Fern to sit down beside her.

"Story of my life," Fern grumbled bitterly.

"It's from your dad," Prudence said as Dylan looked down at the already opened envelope, "Sorry. I didn't realise until I opened it."

Dylan shrugged and pulled out the letter. He read the words with a small smile on his face and when he got near the end, he laughed before tucking it away. Melody bit her lip at the feeling that shot through her at his face. She was a positive person—at least, she tried to be (which was why X was stressing her out so much). She channelled her energy into optimistic thoughts and considerate motives, however, she always got these unpleasant feelings when it came to dads; the overwhelming suffocation of jealousy. It was the only thing that could make her feel like this. She appreciated what she had (which, admittedly, wasn't much), like her siblings, her owl, her friends, her possessions.

But a dad was what Melody craved the most.

She didn't know him, never had. Her mum had said that the man—Nick, his name was—hadn't given her enough information to contact him when she found out she was pregnant. Therefore, Melody had never met her dad, and it frustrated her sometimes because she always asked, why was she the only one? Not in the world, obviously, there were plenty of people who didn't know their dads, even some that didn't know their mums, but out of her siblings, Melody was the only one, which was annoying considering apart from the twins, they all had different fathers. It seemed her dad was the only one that her mum hadn't bothered to find out about and seeing her siblings with their father's made her feel upset.

"Mel, have you fixed my skirt?" Prudence asked.

Melody nodded, "I did it yesterday. I'll give you it tonight."

"Good, thanks. It's my only one. Flitwick has already pulled me up for not wearing 'proper school regulation uniform'."

Melody glanced down at her sister's faded navy blue skirt. "We can't have that, can we?" she smiled.

Prudence grimaced.

"Just think, sis," Fern whispered giddily to her twin. "Three more weeks and we can afford that new dress!"

A small smile made its way onto the young girls face. "Oh, yeah."

They started to giggle excitedly before walking away to join their friends at Hufflepuff table. Melody couldn't help but feel bad for them. The twins were girly girls; they loved clothes, make-up, jewellery, shoes—but could hardly ever afford them. Melody did try to help out, to keep up with the 'latest trends', as they put it, because Melody didn't really care about that sort of thing. However, Melody needed some money of her own, if not for treats but for school supplies, and she had to lend money to Dylan and Ross sometimes, too. Dylan, the most academic of the Valentine siblings, liked the big, thick books that even Hogwarts didn't supply, and Ross was a first year and needed so much stuff it made Melody feel a bit dizzy. Melody just hoped Ross' new things could be passed down to Piper once she started Hogwarts in two years, though she hoped by that time she'd have a job.

Melody walked Dylan to the library and then went to the Quiddich pitch. The team were still in the air so Melody sat on the grass near the changing rooms and watched them, partially interested in the team but mostly thinking about X and if the whole thing was just some sort of prank. If it was James or Fred, she was going to hex them…but she couldn't understand why they would do that. Surely if they wanted to know something, they would just ask, not bully it out of her. Plus, how would they even know that stuff about her? She hadn't told them, they had no way to find out.

But then who was X? Why did he/she even care about Melody and her life? What kick did he/she get? Was it just for the laughs and entertainment? Because, if so, it wasn't very funny.

Sighing heavily, she grabbed a handful of grass and yanked it out of the ground. She blew the strands into the air, staring at them as they slowly fell down to the ground. She looked down at the place she had just took the grass from to see it had already grown back, the beauty of magic, she supposed. With all the Quidditch that went on here, the whole thing would be mud by now if there wasn't the auto-grow enchantment.

"Hey Mel." Drew groaned, plonking herself down beside her friend.

"Hello. You look sweaty."

"I am. It's a hard job keeping this bloody lot in check."

"Good session?"

"Better than the last one."

Melody smiled and picked anxiously at the grass. Drew, now relaxing against the changing room wall with her eyes closed, was paying no attention to her and looked too tired to think things through. Melody took this as her opportunity. "Drewie?"

"Mhmm?"

"Can people who aren't students get into the common rooms?"

Drew's eyes popped open in surprise, almost like she had been thinking the same thing. "Um…I don't see how. The portraits would have yelled bloody murder if they saw a non-student walking the halls of the castle. Plus, how would they know the password?"

"What if they just have inside help?"  
>"I dunno…maybe. You're asking the wrong person. Dom's more likely to know more than I do," Drew said quickly, getting to her feet. "Better get back. Can't give a bad example to my team."<p>

She ran off before Melody could even blink. Figuring that she had just freaked out possibly the bravest girl she knew with her silly questions, Melody laid back on the grass and watched the clouds. She distracted herself with all the different shapes and as she saw a cloud that looked very much like a giraffe, someone jumped on her. This someone was quite heavy, knocking the breath out of Melody's lungs when they landed, and had shaggy black hair that tickled her face.

"James," she whined, "You're heavy! Get off me!"

"Are you calling me fat again? You know, Mel, I'm going to get a complex soon."

"You're heavy for _me_," she wheezed. "But I'm a weakling."

"And you're about ten stone heavier than her," Roxanne said as she came over. "Get off the poor girl. You'll crack her ribs."

"Women." James huffed, getting up and bringing Melody with him. He walked off, muttering something about stupid cousins and losing weight.

She waited outside for her friends to return and then headed back to the castle. Harley and Dom were in the same place and doing the same thing they had been when Melody left, playing the guitar and reading, respectively. James and Melody curled into the loveseat together, resting for the night instead of doing the homework they should probably be working on. The sky began to turn dark, the fire roared to life, basking the common room in a warm, golden glow, and the nosy Gryffindor's began to slow and calm down. Melody rested her head on James' shoulder and, not able to reach the coffee table, laid her legs on top of his. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, it took James to tickle her ribs for her to realise he was speaking to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked concernedly. "You've hardly spoken since the Quidditch pitch."

"Yep." She chirped. He gave her an unimpressed look. "No, really…Dylan just got a letter from his dad, is all."

"Oh."

She gave a soft grin. "I told you. Nothing you can do."

"Are you sure your mum doesn't know him?"

"That's what she says."

"Ask again."

"There's no point. I'll get the same answer as always."

"What if you just find more information?" he questioned hopefully. "And then I'll ask my dad to use the Ministry to find him—"

"That's illegal."

"…technically, yes. But what does that matter?"

"Your dad could lose his job. It's not worth it. I'm happy."

"I know, but you'd be happier if you knew your dad."

"We don't know that. He could be a loser for all I know. Anyways, who needs a dad when they have a James Potter?"

He grinned. "That's true."

"Though he can be a little big-headed sometimes."

"Hey!"

"I love you, anyway."

"Thanks."

What she said wasn't a lie. She was happy…most of the time. Outwardly, she was constantly happy, to the point that some people wondered if she was on drugs, but inwardly…well, she could get sad sometimes. What she said was true, though, how did she know that meeting her dad would make her feel better? He may not even want her.

Melody peered around the common room, looking at her friends. Harley was teaching Logan 'Twinkle, twinkle Little Star' on the guitar, Russell was stealing Dom's book and reading it upside down while said girl tried, and failed, to get it back, and Drew and Fred were playing exploding snap. She turned to James, looking into his deep blue eyes and the small smatter of freckles across his nose, and she felt a sense of peacefulness.

Yes, she was just fine. With friends and siblings like hers, who needed a dad?

Now if she could just sort out the small problem of X…

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>

**-Layla**


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